Do I still have a chance?

[studentdoctor08]

I'm currently a junior right now, and am thinking about applying to med school my 4th year of college, here are some things to note.

My GPA after freshman year was a 3.7, but then Sophomore year killed me and it brought it all the way down to a 3.29. If I do better my junior and senior years, will I still have a shot at some decent medical school?

I have a publication and foreign medical experience in an underdeveloped country, plus an officer position in a student-run organization at my school. This is just very basic information, my question is that if I am able to bring my GPA up is there still a chance for me to get into a decent medical school despite my low second year grades? I appreciate any input, thank you.

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[barcoderider]

1. They're all "decent" Any allopathic US Medical school will properly prepare you to be a doctor.

2. You'll need an upward trend, and probably shouldn't apply until after you graduate so that you'll have a higher GPA. You will also need to do well on the MCAT to make up for the lower GPA as much as possible.

3. Publication is awesome. Make sure you have good clinical experience too.

4. You can totally pull it off! Just make excellent grades from this point forward.

 

[Catalystik]

As an illustration, if about 60 credits makes up that 3.29 GPA, then another 60 credits of straight As gets your cGPA to a competitive 3.64. If your GPA for these next 2 years is a 3.7, like you got for the freshman year, then your end-of-senior year GPA would be a 3.49. This is not as competitive, but could be compensated for with a higher MCAT score, of say 32+. Or you can take summer school classes. Or you can stay in school an extra year for more GPA repair. Or you can apply to DO med schools which are more forgiving of past academic difficulty.

So you're not out of the game yet, provided you make a complete turn-around immediately and get serious about producing great grades.